


Collecting Dresses and Cash

by AmateurScribes



Series: Whumptober 2019 [20]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crying, Gen, Prom, Prompt Fic, Trembling, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 06:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21114035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmateurScribes/pseuds/AmateurScribes
Summary: Dexter's high school experience was lackluster and unforgettable. All he wants to do is make sure Kai's isn't the same, is that so bad?





	Collecting Dresses and Cash

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't know what to do with today's prompt at first but then this idea kind of hit me and I just had to run with it, haha!
> 
> For the duration of this event, all mistakes are my own.

Dexter's never really understood having pride for one's high school- it never appealed to him to go football games or the musical or any of the choral performances. He was hardly in class anyhow, so what did it matter?

But it mattered to Kai, and that was what was important.

She joined as many clubs as she could handle, dropping out of the ones that weren't fun anymore, and being as active as possible.

So Dexter didn't go to any homecoming games when he went to high school, instead, attending his first one when it was Kai who was performing as a cheerleader.

It was when Kai had joined the musical that one year, part of the ensemble, but Dexter clapped the loudest whenever she was on stage and that he realized he didn't even know that the school had an auditorium this nice with plush seats.

And Grif had never attended his own prom- what would have been the point? Nobody would ask him- poor as dirt Dexter Grif- and he didn't really have friends to go with. He spent his prom night drinking cheap beer and watching a classic horror movie on his shitty TV.

But Kai was excited to go to prom- hadn't stopped talking about it since she became a freshman. 

Grif graduated the year she came into the school, and he hadn't applied to any colleges yet, but he was planning on it. He didn't know what he wanted with his life, but he knew that working at his dead-end job wasn't it.

Something just kept him from pushing back his applications, this feeling he got whenever he sat down in front of the computer and opened up the CommonApp. It made him close the tab and move on with his day.

Before he even realizes it, it's been three years, he's still working at the same job, and the savings account he has been putting money into since he started working for college hasn't been touched and has just been building up money.

He doesn't  _ want _ anything, doesn't need to buy anything that comes to mind, so he doesn't know what to do with it.

Until Kai comes barreling into their house, announcing with the most excitement he's ever heard out of her, "Dex, I need you to come with me to the Prom Info meeting tomorrow!"

Looking up at her from the couch, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "I'm sorry, you need me to what?"

Tossing her tote bag on the ground, the sound of her books slamming down, Kai lounged against their old and ratty armchair.

"It's this  _ mandatory _ meeting for people who want to go to prom, and like, I need a guardian or a parent with me, and mom's out this week, so it's gotta be you," she explained.

"They're just gonna allow this?" he asked, shifting up so that he could look at her better.

"Please, just forge mom's signature, you're good at it," she flapped her hand at him. "It's not like you have anything better to do."

Knowing that if he  _ didn't _ do this for her he would have to hear her bitching and crying for probably  _ years _ to come, he sighed out, "Fine."

The actual meeting itself was beyond boring, and he could see from the corner of his eyes Kai rolling her eyes at all the mentions of alcohol and drunk driving. She was bored with it, and he saw how she was eyeing the table listed E-G that held the paperwork that they would need to sign.

And while Kai didn't really take anything out of the meeting, Dexter eyed the papers and pamphlets that they were handed and realized that somehow his little sister had grown up, and this was going to be her shining moment- her ball that she was going to go to.

So that weekend, he roused her awake and while she cursed him out for interrupting her beauty sleep, he ignored it all to tell her, "Stop bitching and get ready, I'm buying you a prom dress."

The look of pure unadulterated joy on her face was worth it all, because Dexter knew that she was just planning on going in one of her many rave outfits and she didn't mind it, but he knew that she longed for one of those expensive gowns that would make 'all the other bitches jealous.'

At least he finally figured out what he could use all that stockpiled money for.

He didn't know anything about stores or shopping really, keeping all his purchases to small, local deli's or thrift stores, so he let Kai drag him all over her favorite mall- skipping her normal hangouts, heading straight for all the prom dress shops.

She went from dress to dress with wild abandon, throwing them at him to carry before she made her final stop at the changing rooms. Kai went for long gowns, fluffy dresses, short slim-fitting ones, it didn't matter to her what color they were- she couldn't see them anyhow- but if they looked fun and were in her size then she took them off the rack.

He could hardly see her over the pile of dresses, so when a hand dragged him towards the changing rooms he held it in confidence that it was Kai.

One by one she tried the dresses on, sometimes opening the door a crack to tell him to get in there to zip something she couldn't reach or help her take something off arms lifted above her head- stuck- with only half of her face visible to glower at him when he eventually burst out laughing.

She was having fun, and that's what made him absolutely sure that it was all worth it in the end, her dazzling smile outshining all the other girls also trying on dresses.

Eventually she found one that just  _ fit- _ the bright color yellow reflecting into her brown eyes, the folds of the dress accenting her curves,  _ he didn't doubt that he would end up punching someone that would try to leer at her, _ and given the way that she teared up slightly as she looked in the mirror he could tell that she loved it.

"Which color- I feel like it's a warm color, it's so light," she chattered at him as he hung up the rejected dresses on the discard rack.

"It's yellow," he lets her know, ignoring the looks of older women as they watched the exchange. "It suits you, Kai."

"Of course it does, Dex, I can rock anything and anyone," she cocked her hips, hands resting lightly on her frame. She got serious for a moment when she asked, "Are you sure it doesn't cost too much- like, I don't want to empty your wallet, bro?"

He waved her off, heading towards the register. She didn't need to be concerned with the money that he had, it wasn't her problem.

Finding the dress was somehow the  _ easy _ part. From there they needed to find jewelry and shoes and a purse that matched with it. The obvious answer was to get something gold colored, but the universe didn't agree with that assessment because proper gold was expensive and he didn't have  _ that _ much money on him, and with how finicky Kai was he was beyond grateful when she picked out glittered heels at last.

Going home that day and hanging up her gown, savings account significantly smaller, Dexter thought about how happy his sister was about something as insignificant to him like  _ prom. _

Part of him thought that she would just about explode when the day finally came, and he stayed as long as he could helping her with her makeup and hair- he would have loved to take her to a professional stylist for this, but he'd been doing her makeup since she was a little brat toddler, he knew a thing or two about it by now- before he had to catch his shift. Dexter didn't need to worry about how she was getting to the banquet hall, she and her friends had arranged for a party bus, and he left the house knowing that even if he was tired as all hell from work he would stay up late in waiting for her.

Which was a bad and probably ridiculous idea- there was no way that she  _ wasn't _ going to attend one of the many after-prom parties, he knew his sister well enough that she couldn't deny a chance to stay out and party.

He had taken so many pictures of her because this was his  _ sister _ and this was the day that she had been waiting literal years for. It wasn't his prom, but somehow he found himself wanting to remember the way that she looked- taking a snapshot of this moment, something to look back on when he was older.

Dexter didn't know exactly  _ where _ he would be in the future, but he'd want to look back at this photo.

These were the thoughts that occupied his mind as he made his commute home, the things that sounded out in his mind as he opened the door and collapsed on the couch, wanting to be there for Kai when she entered the house. 

But, of course, he'd been tired from working, and he fell asleep. Waking up to the sound of a doorknob jiggling, he looked at his phone with blurry vision to see that it was about one o'clock. Which was surprising, since he had thought that she'd be out much longer.

The door opened, and Kai's form was shadowed by the light behind her, but he could pick up on her soft but harried cries, sobbing and choking on air trying to get some in between her tears.

"Kai!" he was up in an instant, tripping slightly in his haste, and he reached out for her, but she pushed him away, hands going up to cover her runny makeup.

"What's wrong," he grabbed her hands and brought them down, trying to catch her eye, but she just kept looking away from him, gazing down instead.

Following her line of sight, he saw what had become of her dress, a red liquid staining it horribly. Snapping back up, he saw how her hair was in sticky clumps, and the small tiara that she had begged him to buy was crooked on the crown of her head.

He could smell sickeningly sweet stench of fruit punch. And it made sense to him, what must have happened.

Kids were mean. That was something he remembered all too well from high school.

"It's ok," he reassured her, bringing her close to him, not caring about getting his own clothes dirty. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered, trembling in his grasp, hands reaching around his back to grip tightly against his work uniform- he hadn't even realized that he hadn't taken it off. "I- they- the  _ dress-" _

"I don't care about the dress, Kai," he brought up a hand to run comfortingly through her hair. "I care about what happened to you."

"I just-" she shook so furiously in his hold, her sobbing racking her entire frame. "I don't want to talk about it,  _ please." _

"Kai-" he tried.

"Please, Dex," she whispered. 

How could he deny her just that, as she was trembling in his hold crying as softly as she could manage, trying to retain some dignity of this night.

"Ok, Kai," he agreed. "Let's get you cleaned up."

She washed her make up off, not caring about how long it took, and he just waited by her side, taking her earrings and necklace and everything else from her hands, setting it aside to clean as best as he could later.

Then, he left the bathroom so that she could strip out of the dress, taking it from her hands as she passed it to him from a small crack in the door.

And he heard the sound of the shower running, bringing the dress towards their cold laundry room, laying it on top of the washing machine and dryer. He didn't know how to take out a stain like that, but he'd try and there'd still be discoloration, but it'd be light enough that Kai would hardly notice.

Dexter felt absolutely horrible like he'd been an enabler in this whole thing, even though he was just trying to help his sister have the things that he never had an opportunity to want.

How could he leave her when things like this happened? He couldn't just leave her- she needed him here, maybe that was what was stopping him from finishing his applications, this truth that he hadn't seen yet.

And he didn't go to college or enlist into the army like he had been toying with.

And he unknowingly dodged a bullet, but also opportunities to better himself. Not that it mattered to him.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that this was one of my greatest fears when my prom finally happened- I'm a bit of a worrier, and I always tend to think of extremes when it comes to social events. 
> 
> If you'd like to contact me, you can find me at either of my Tumblr's: @agent-murica (main) and @amateurscribes (writing).


End file.
